Brigadeiro (Brazilian Chocolate Truffle)

So far, I have found that I love almost all Brazilian food that I have tried.  Dustin served his mission in Brazil, so of course, he is a big fan of their food, and it is a fun treat for him when I make some Brazilian dish.  Last week we tried a Brazilian dessert, that was not only delicious, but super easy to make.  I loved it!  It combined two of my favorite ingredients (and not too many more): sweetened condensed milk and chocolate.  Mmmm.  These would be even cuter if you put them in a mini cupcake paper, like they apparently do in Brazil, but I was making them for children, and I know they didn't really care, so why waste the papers?

Brigadeiro

by: cynthiapresser.com

2 Tbsp. butter

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

3 Tbsp. cocoa powder

chocolate sprinkles

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, sweetened condensed milk and cocoa powder.  Stir it constantly until it thickens and reduces down quite a bit (her website says that you will be able to see quite a bit of the bottom of the pan, and that is what happened after I had stirred it for about 10 minutes).  Take the pan off the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.  Once it has cooled, butter your hands and begin to roll the candy into bite size balls.  Roll each ball in the chocolate sprinkles.  You can serve them at room temperature, or chilled.  I had mine after it had chilled and it was so delicious!

Quick & Easy Carmel Popcorn

I don't think I have ever made carmel popcorn until recently.  And since discovering this method of cooking it, I have made it multiple times.  This recipe is nice because it tastes great, and instead of baking it for an hour and a half, it takes 4 minutes of cooking in the microwave (with some shaking in the middle of that time).  And then your clean-up is a snap!  Just throw away the paper bag!  Not only that, but it is delicious.  Perfectly carmel-y and crispy and so easy.  In fact, it was so easy that I made it for neighbor treats, teacher treats, and family treats!

Quick & Easy Carmel Popcorn
adapted from: allrecipes.com

1/2 c. butter
2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
5 quarts popped popcorn

In a saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter.  Add the brown sugar, corn syrup and salt and stir it constantly until it starts boiling.  Reduce the heat to medium low (make sure it stays boiling) and let it boil for 4 minutes without stirring it.  Remove it from the heat and add the baking soda and vanilla.  Stir it until it is a pretty golden color (like carmel!).  Pour it over your popcorn and stir it gently to coat.  I found that using two bowls for the popcorn worked the best.  Don't worry if it isn't perfectly evenly coated on your popcorn.  It will all get coated well in the microwave.  Pour the popcorn into a large paper bag.  If your bag isn't really big (not all store paper bags are the same size), use two bags.  Cook it in the microwave for 4 minutes, shaking the bag every 30 seconds.  When it is done, lay the bag on the counter and using scissors, cut it open and lay it flat.  Spread the popcorn a little if you need to.  Let the popcorn cool and then break it up.  At this point, you can drizzle it with chocolate and then sprinkle it with peppermint, or sprinkles, or other fun things.  I sprinkled Christmas sprinkles on it right when it came out of the microwave to give it a little color.  Then I put it in little paper bags and tied them up with ribbon and a bow to look like a little gift!  Slap a tag on it and there is the easiest neighbor treats I've ever done!  

Easy Whipped Cream Truffles

I am calling these candies truffles, for lack of a better word.  They are kind of truffle-y, kind of cookie-ish, maybe somewhere in between.  I have a very distinct memory of my mom making these for a Tupperware party she was hosting, when I was a small child.  Watching her use a candy bar and a carton of cool whip (it was probably a splurge for our tight budget) and knowing that it wasn't for us, was torturous.  Ever since, they have been magical.  So, I splurged on a large Symphony candy bar, vanilla wafers and a carton of cool whip, and this time, I ate as many as I wanted and even shared a few with the kids.  There are only three ingredients, so you know this is going to be easy.


Easy Whipped Cream Truffles  
from: Lynne'


1 large chocolate candy bar (I got the biggest I could find)
1 carton of cool whip
2 c. vanilla wafers, crushed (you may need a few more, but that'll probably be enough)


In a microwave safe bowl, melt your chocolate.  I did this by cooking it 30 seconds at a time and stirring in between.  Let the chocolate cool for a few minutes.  I waited about 10 minutes and it was still slightly warm, but very stir-able.  If it is too warm it will melt your cool whip.  Add the entire carton of cool whip to the chocolate and stir it well.  When you do this, the coldness of the cool whip will start to harden up the chocolate.  Just keep stirring until it is mixed in well, knowing that you will end up with some chocolate flecks.

Put your crushed vanilla wafers in a bowl and drop the chocolate/whipped cream mixture by teaspoon full into the wafers, stirring gently to coat the entire ball.  You can make these into pretty balls if you want, I just dropped mine in the crushed cookies.  Place them onto a cookie sheet, lined with wax paper and freeze 1-2 hours, or until you are ready to serve them.  Feel free to get creative with these.  I added coconut to a portion of them, and that was good.  You could also try crushed Oreos or nuts instead of vanilla wafers.